Hi! Hopefully I will post this in the right section. My name is Cecilia and I am studying tv-production in Sweden. I will come to Athens the 14-21 of January to shoot a short documentary about the growth of the bicycling culture in Athens. My idea is that more and more people choose to ride their bikes, maybe because of the financial crisis, people can't afford to have cars. I will also bring up the fact that the state doesn't invest in bicycling, in bike-lanes, traffic regulations etc.
I write here because I need all the advices I can get. I am also looking for people to interview. I am looking for someone who use to have a car but decided to sell it and use a bicycle instead. I am also looking for people who are going to the Freeday-bike ride. Please hit me up if you can help me out in any way. Write to me here in the forum or even better on my facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cecilia.wassberg
Looking forward to come to Athens!
Cheers,
Cecilia
First of all,hi there.
Are you guys coming with your bikes or bike free?
Sure one week is quite a good time to find everything but that depends on the weather.
Hello Cecilia.
Sorry but I find your ideas oversimplistic and downwright false.
Scripts are ok for films.
Documentaries should show things as they are ,not a biased version .
Freeday . https://www.facebook.com/freedayride. preceded crisis and did not grow after .
What happened is that many local bike rides sprouted .
Some of them you can see at the left hand column.
Freeday proved that cycling around Athens can be fun, a way to combine socializing and exercise despite the steep inclines at several places in Attica peninsula and showed that the route is even more fun than the destination.
It was also helped by the fanciful posters at their fb page announcing the next ride,often with a riddle that aroused interest, and entertained.
Important also to the longevity of that ride was the fact that it stayed away from commercial interests and political affiliations
However most persons at bike rides are not commuters.
In fact commuters are a tiny percentage and it can be said that poverty reverted tthe growth of "an inclusive bike oriented lifestyle "
Reasons are several including but not only the high amount of bike thefts, the lack of places to leave the bikes , the bad condition of roads , the prohibition of more than two bikes on trains,the law that is too lenient to offending motorists ,the steep inclines , the patchy and altogether inappropriate bikeways implemented because of the lack of formal requirements for their building.Here are implemented bikeways. http://www.podilates.gr/node/30208.
Here are biyclist's theses for bike integration . http://www.podilates.gr/aitimata .
The best bikeways forming a comprehensive net I think are aat Vrilissia municipality for now.For the future is scheduled a bike way that would connect sea with north suburbs "Faliro Kifissia axis"
This (if implemented correctly ) could help.
It is based on a plan by the technical univercity which in turn was based on a previous collaboration between univercity and cyclists about bike axes at the peninsula. http://www.podilates.gr/axones.
The univercity's plan was awarded an international prize in 2013 . http://velo-city2013.com/?page_id=2337&project_id=209 .
Most affected by the crisis are persons with mobility issues.
These, because of the poor accessibility in most places and slashing of social funding are left in a dire situation cut up socially and financially
Many ride just for the fun factor, others ride for the
trend factor but very few use it for commuting. There
is no real bike culture in Athens since we lack the
mentality and we have a distant relation with sports
and fitness.
In other words, bicycle are consider toys for children
and that is how the State sees them.
Hi Cecilia,
if you are open to facts and with an open mentality, there will be a lot to discover. As you know -it has to do with documentary filming- things seldom come as expected. The key will be to spot the right persons. Freeride events will be a good start. Take your time on it and you'll be certainly rewarded.
:-)
-i
Thanks for all your replies.
Laou Laou- I will come to Athens without a bike. But I will have a camera with me to shoot the documentary:)
aldro - You got me a long reply, with some good points. It is a manuscript in documentaries as well. Not as strict as in films, but you need a clear view what kind of story you want to tell in documentaries. And as many people already told me, there is some connection between the financial crisis and bicycling. Not all of the bikers sold their cars to start bicycling, but there is some of them. The car industry went down 40% in Greece last year, and people need to get around in some way. But of course there is a uprising popularity in bicycling who doesn't depend on the crisis.
Eaglos - Yes, and the state should start listen to the bicyclers. And see the benefits of bicycling (tourism, health, sustainability, less cars etc) instead of working against it:)
i.alli.ellatha - I will not have time to look for people for my documentary when I am in Greece, cause I have to start working on it straight away, but I will defiantly be going to the free day. Are you going there?
. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy .
. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies .
What you wrote actually is the most common logical fallacy.
Namely that we listen only to people that tell us what we already believe in.
By your own admittance you haven't conducted any proper scientific research before deciding the theme of your documentary.Maybe it is more appropriate to name it "mockumentary "
http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples/examples-of-open-ended-and-c... .
. http://w3.unisa.edu.au/counsellingservices/balance/problem.asp .
But it begs the question.If those are your intentions why not film it in a studio with amateur actors and save the cost of the trip ?
Well, 5-6 years ago bicycle infrastructure was next to nothing in Greece. Many bicycle lanes have been applied since then, but very often with poor results, due to the lack of any serious standards. To make things worse, there are very few funds today spent on cycling infrastructure.
Even if experienced cyclist feel like home at main roads of Athens, in order to lure people to ride bicycles instead of cars, cycling infrastructure has to be improved. That has to be pointed out at your film, because despite our great weather for cycling, many people are still afraid to ride...
It is reasonable to think that the financial crisis would cause cycling to increase in Athens, and I've met two people who started biking this way. One of those spoke about cycling in derogatory terms, as if he didn't really want to do it, but he did it out of necessity.
However, there are also reasons that the crisis might not cause cycling to increase. The crisis reduced the number of jobs so some people that used to bike to work, have no work to bike to. Also, people don't necessarily do the logical thing. If they did, Athens would already be a bike friendly city. The cities that take biking seriously are cities in prosperous developed countries (Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and lately even New York).
Biking needs an investment (purchase of a bicycle). People who are in financial straights don't invest anything so they may end up spending more money.
The crisis gave people an excuse to park illegally more than before and gave police an excluse not to ticket people (who supposedly already have a hard time, so they shouldn't be bothered with following parking laws). All municipal police departments in the country were dismantled and the personnel was fired (about 4000 people). This means that there is hardly anyone issuing parking tickets. When car parking is unchecked, sustainable mobility suffers.
Cycling is on the rise because it was time it did, regardless of the crisis. I suspect that it would be better, if there were no crisis.
for the record freeday is nothing more than a long ride (many cyclist together in one night )
people can not afford to have cars and turn to subway or bus ( unfortunately bicycle isn't the first option )
here can get an idea in numbers
http://biketowork.gr/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/195519447158684/
Hi Cecilia.
Check this please, especially the last paragraph.
http://www.bike-eu.com/Sales-Trends/Market-Report/2013/10/Greece-Future-...
Tip of the day
make a post at
Cyclist-friends.gr forum section,English speaking column.
You can find there more persons and increase the possibility find what you want.
Please announce in this forum the date and time you will come to the "Friends of the Bicycle" in Eptahalkou, so that cyclists who are interested in meeting you could come.
Better make it "almost none sold their car to start cycling".
I think that you are focusing on the minorities and you will
miss the actual situation. You will find a few who sold their
car/cars and got a bicycle but there are thousands who did not
and still got bicycles and tens of thousands who kept using
their cars..
Car sales have been plumeting since 2008/2009 but since most
families had 1-3 cars and 1-2 motorbikes, traffic is as bad
as ever. Also public transportation has deteriorated (thank
you EU, IMF and local scum) so car remains the first option
of transportation. Public transportation and walking are
above cycling in the list of alternatives.
Another thing to consider is that many car owners have chosen to
"deactivate" their cars, meaning that they handed the license pla-
tes to tax offices and left their vehicles parked on either side
of the road. Those owners (and they are a lot) will use their cars
again with the first chance they would get.
To sum it up, bicycling is a trend in Greece and you can see that
by the bike shop boom in big cities. If people had money they would
still use their cars despite having to spend double the time to get
to work or paying high prices for fuel. Do not link greek financial
crisis (a global capitalistic crisis) with bicycle sales and defi-
nitely don't assume that income shortage = I sell car and get bike...
Be warned about a "mentality shock", especially if you have not been in Greece already. This is why i cannot suggest a point-and-shoot fashion for you. This is mediterranean south! - yes it can be very challenging but you probably need time to adjust.
Unfortunately i will not be there since i live far too way from this f* city -- fortunately for me...
We should create an english forum category here.
Ι am sοrry Ι wαs τοo hαrsh.
It is a good idea to bring a bicycle mask. http://calorielab.com/news/2008/07/27/gas-masks-for-city-biking/ .
The reason is that when the weather is cold people burn anything to get warm creating a lot of pollution
Tip of the day
The most bike friendly person at the municipal of Athens is G.Amiras
Sure he can tell you a lot of things about bicycle.
Site amiras.gr
epimenoume@gmail.com
and if you finally come with bicycles .. pls bring your expensive ones , a full wallet and you jewels , we gonna appreciate your visit more
svenska regler knulla engelska forum :)
λαου λάου πρεπει ναρχίσεις να μας δίνεις ποσοστά όταν διαφημίζεις τους εργολάβους σου.. στο φόρουμ... καθώς και όσα εμπορικά διοργανώνουν βόλτες και μπαινουν στο φόρoυμ..
Τι πατάτα είναι αυτή που έγραψες τώρα.. Ναι ο Αμυράς θα λύσει τις απορίες της κοπέλας. Αν ο Αμυράς είναι ο πιο φιλο ποδηλατικός τύπος στην Αθήνα, κάτι άλλοι από εδώ μέσα θα πρέπει να πάνε στα Όσκαρ..
...αν εννοείτε αυτόν εδώ τον τυπο ,ε δε νομιζω ότι εχει και μεγαλη σχεση με το ποδηλατο ,συγνωμη κι ολας...
να μου εξηγήσει ο διαχειριστής που το έσβησε με το username του γιατί δεν τον έχουν προκαλέσει τα παραπάνω μηνύματα και τον προκάλεσε το δικό μου.. που ήταν και χιουμοριστικό για τα χάλια σας
Hey! Thanks for all your replies. Many of you are upset, because I already made a conclusion about uprising bicycle culture is connected with the financial crisis. In my documentary, I will not say it is deepening on the crisis, but I will ask the question, do more people bicycle when there is crisis? Maybe. My focus will be on the growth of the bicycling culture and the lack of good infrastructure for bicyclers in Athens
This documentary will only be around 5 minutes. And it is a school-project. It will not be shown on tv.
I will be on "Friends of the Bicycle" in Eptahalkou, on the 14th of January, around 10 pm. And at Freeday the 17th of January before the start. I hope I will see you there, and we can have a further conversation about biking in Athens.
Hey! Thanks for all your replies. Many of you are upset, because I already made a conclusion about uprising bicycle culture is connected with the financial crisis. In my documentary, I will not say it is deepening on the crisis, but I will ask the question, do more people bicycle when there is crisis? Maybe. My focus will be on the growth of the bicycling culture and the lack of good infrastructure for bicyclers in Athens
This documentary will only be around 5 minutes. And it is a school-project. It will not be shown on tv.
I will be on "Friends of the Bicycle" in Eptahalkou, on the 14th of January, around 10 pm. And at Freeday the 17th of January before the start. I hope I will see you there, and we can have a further conversation about biking in Athens.
http://www.podilates.gr/node/26411
http://vimeo.com/52346471#at=0
...
the discussion in the thread cited above, is related with the non use of helmets during the "voltas", the fact that everyday commuting has no relation whith the organised bike tours ("volta" in greek) and the special verve of the bicycle reality in our town. (Just like in everything else in our everyday life anyway)!
...
hope being helpful
CeciliaW the upset has nothing to do with you . and your conclusion about the role of the crisis, is 100% on target. the timing is little complicated... cause we expect elections in the near future and the forum stinks just like athens when it gets cold ..any politic conversation in the forums, but also in public is being subverted... and directed.
Tip of the day
Sure you could get more informations from S.Papageorgiou,editor of the MBike.gr magazine,co founder of the organization citiesforcycling.gr and the head organizer of bike festival Athens.
Nice person.
Suuuureee.....
Τι σού'χει κάνει καλέ;